Emperor Kenzō
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Kenzō (顕宗天皇, Kenzō-tennō?), or rather Kenzo okimi, also known as Ghen so tennō, was the 23rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.[1] No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign. Kenzō is considered to have ruled the country during the late-5th century, but there is a paucity of information about him. Scholars can only lament that, at this time, there is insufficient material available for further verification and study.
Prince Ōke, later to become Emperor Kenzō, is said to have been the grandson of Emperor Richū, and the son of Ichinobe-no Oshiwa.[2] He would have been quite young when Emperor Yūryaku shot the arrow which killed his father during a hunting expedition;[3] and this caused both Prince Ōke and his older brother, Prince Woke, to flee for their lives. They found refuge at Akasi in Harima province where they hid by living in obscurity. Histories from that period explained that the two brothers sought to blend into this rural community by posing as common herdsmen.[4]
It is said that the Prince of Harima came by chance to Akasi; and at that time, Prince Ōke revealed his true identity. This intermediary re-introduced the lost cousins to Emperor Seinei, who had by this time ascended to the throne after the death of his father, the former Emperor Yūryaku. Seinei invited both brothers to return the court; and he adopted both of them as sons and heirs.[4]
At Seinei's death, he had no other heirs than Prince Ōke and Prince Woke, whose father had been killed by Yūraku. At this point, Ōke wanted his elder brother to become emperor; but Woke refused. The two could not reach an agreement.[4]
The great men of the court insisted that one or the other of the brothers must accept the throne; but in the end, Woke proved to be more adamant. Prince Ōke agreed to accep the throne; and Kenzō was ultimately proclaimed as the new emperor -- which created a sense of relief for all the people who had endured this period of uncertainty.[1]
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[edit] Kenzō's reign
It is recorded that his capital was at Chikatsu Asuka no Yatsuri no Miya (近飛鳥八釣宮, ちかつあすかのやつりのみや?) in Yamato province.[5] The location of the palace is thought to have been in present day Osaka prefecture or Nara prefecture.[6]
Murray reports that the only event of major consequence during Kenzō's reign had to do with the filial respect he showed for his murdered father. Kenzō arranged to have his father's remains retrieved and reinterred in a mausoleum appropriate for the son of an one Emperor and the father of another.[7]
Kenzō died at age 38, reigning only three years.[5] He too had no other heirs; so this emperor's brother would follow him on the throne.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 29-30; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979) Gukanshō, p. 259; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 116.
- ^ Murray, David. (1906). Japan, p. 102.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 27.
- ^ a b c Titsingh, p. 29.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 30.
- ^ Aston, William. (1998). Nihongi, Vol. 1, pp. 377-393.
- ^ Murray, p. 103.
[edit] References
- Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. [reprinted by Tuttle Publishing, Tokyo, 2007. 10-ISBN 0-8048-0984-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-8048-0984-9 (paper)]
- Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, c. 1220], Gukanshō (The Future and the Past, a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretative history of Japan written in 1219). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
- Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland....Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
- Murray, David. (1906). Japan. New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons.
- Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Emperor Seinei |
Emperor of Japan: Kenzō 485-487 (traditional dates) |
Succeeded by Emperor Ninken |
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